The anticipation is killing me...

Ok, I am going crazy. This will be good therapy for me and will help the time pass faster...

***

We reluctantly signed BOTH boys up for TACKLE football this year. Don't ask me why. Even as I type this I still can't believe we really did it. They have been begging to play for years and every year we have had at least one great reason to say no. I just have a hard time paying good money to watch my kids get hurt. Call me crazy. Seriously, it is a huge time commitment and I can't say yes to one and not the other...so that commitment TIMES TWO is a great reason to say no. Not to mention the cost. $225 PER PLAYER just to play and RENT the equipment. Yeah, that's right....RENT. After the season we have to return it all. I know. It's crazy...TIMES TWO mind you. Besides the fact that they are my babies. I mean, I know they're 9 & 11 now and they're certainly not babies...but they'll always be my first 2 babies & I don't want to watch them get hurt...let alone pay to watch them get hurt. :)

***

Ok, so fast forward thru the registration fee, yes...a small fortune. Fast forward thru the process of equipment checkout. Fast forward thru trying to figure out what the heck we're doing. (Don't forget that on top of the $225 you have to buy a cup, a mouthguard and cleats...we have cleats already because now they make baseball and football cleats interchangeable, but that's beside the point. Did you know that at sporting goods stores you can't try on a cup and you can't return it once you buy it? So, you have to look at the wall of cups and decide which size you think your child's junk is. AWKWARD!!!! Same goes for the mouth guard...not nearly as awkward, but still.)

***

Ok, enough fast forwarding...now we're entering the tryouts phase. Holy crap. Can I say freaking intense? Of course I can, it's my blog and I can say what I want. However, the word intense does not even do it justice. When the boys try out for baseball it takes an hour on a Saturday morning and they just do a couple of things real quick and they're done. Well, football tryouts are crazy! They tryout SIX different times. Yup, SIX times. 2-3 hours each time. ALL of the parents (except for the lazy ones like us) take their "beach chairs and water coolers" (as my friend puts it) and they sit thru each one of those SIX tryouts. The coaches act like they're coaching the pros. They have clipboards and stop watches and they time and observe each drill. Seriously.

***

SOOOO, imagine my dilemma when my boys came down with fevers and nasty coughs at the beginning of the tryout phase. Yeah, they missed most of the tryouts. They did go a couple of times, but when they went they were so sick I'm sure they didn't "perform" well for those coaches. I'm sure they were shaking their heads wondering who these McCann boys were who showed up in their Riverton "flag" football jerseys (instead of last year's "tackle" football jerseys like the rest of the "serious" players), without water cooler parents there to observe, and only showed up about half the time. I know, it looks bad doesn't it. At one point one of the coaches yelled at the whole group and told them they weren't allowed to wear Bingham or Riverton jerseys. They are the new Herriman team this year and they have new colors. He acted like the parents should run out and buy blue, gold and maroon (ugly, I know) practice jerseys. 'Cause, ya know...we haven't put nearly enough money into it yet. See what I mean, intense.

***

So, tonite was the last nite of tryouts and the draft nite...dun dun dun....and my boys didn't go to tryouts AGAIN. For the last few days Taylor has been having some MAJOR anxiety about football in general. I think he got hurt when they did "full contact" in their gear at tryouts. I also think missing a few tryouts hurt his confidence. Mostly though I think he realized how intense football really is and wondered if he was really cut out for it. So, he started saying things like, "Is it too late to change my mind?" and "Could you still get your money back if I quit?". Keep in mind that we do not support quitting in this house. This is why we have 6 kids. We don't quit or deviate from the original plan. Just kidding. :) Seriously though, we don't want to teach our kids that quitting is ever acceptable. So, whatd'ya do when you have a couple of days before the deadline to get a refund and you can see that your child is already struggling and it hasn't even started? Whatd'ya do when you can see the long road ahead full of daily battles over practice, conditioning, commitment, accountability, etc.? One of his biggest concerns was that he wouldn't have any friends on his team. One of my biggest concerns was that he'd be the kid no one wanted since he never showed up. I was "/-this close-/" to pulling him out and putting him in something less dramatic, like karate or art lessons...for real.

***

Well, Chris and I went on a date tonite and we talked about this predicament. We decided that $225 was a good investment to teach an important principle and that we were going to stick with it, even if it was 2-3 months of pure hell for all of us. We were determined to not let him be a quitter and go through life thinking that quitting is an option.

***

So, imagine the pure relief I felt when I came home to a message that Taylor got drafted onto a great team!!!! His coach is someone that Chris grew up with (him and his wife, in fact) and we have gotten to know and love them as neighbors and friends ever since Taylor and their son were in kindergarten together. He is on the board for the league and he is going to be a fantastic coach! The good news is that he WANTED Taylor!!!! You know how good it feels to say that!? :) I have seriously been SO happy since I got the call! The funny thing is that I talked to this coach's wife when my boys got sick and asked about missing tryouts and how that would affect them. I talked to her again tonite about a lot of the questions I have...knowing her husband was on the board and they have played before. It was so great to have them understand what was going on and to give Taylor the benefit of the doubt!

***

So, now I sit and wait for the phone to ring and reveal Ryan's fate. :) We haven't heard anything yet. It's 11:03 and they have until 11:30 tonite to call all of their players. I think we got the call for Taylor so early because of the connection and the excitement they felt to get him in the draft!! I cannot wait for Taylor to wake up in the morning so I can tell him the good news! I fully expect it to change his attitude drastically!

***

I hope Ryan does as well and I'm sure he will. He actually made it to more tryouts than Taylor and he is making a name for himself with his athletic ability. I honestly don't know how it works, but I think there are "A" teams and "B" teams...so, if he makes an "A" team he will be happy (& I bet his friends will be on those teams), but if he gets on a "B" team he'll probably get more playing time and end up being the star of the team. Who knows. That's how baseball seems to pan out though. I have no idea what to expect and the longer it takes to get a phone call, the more nervous I get that he has gotten lost in the draft and hasn't been picked by anyone. AHHHH, the suspense is killing me!!!!

***

P.S. The phone rang at 11:27! Ryan also got picked by someone we know and we're SUPER excited about the team he's going to be on! *breathing a sigh of relief*

***
Here's to a great year of football!!!!